


will you love me when i come back home

by leiaso1o



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Ben Comes Home, Gen, How TLJ should have gone, Kylo Ren Redemption, Rey and Ben are siblings, TLJ Spoilers, TLJ fix-it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 23:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13110438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiaso1o/pseuds/leiaso1o
Summary: Bodies.Bodies didn’t really bother Kylo- no, it’s Ben now, with the way he feels and what he’s done, he certainly can’t take the name Kylo Ren now. He is Ben Solo. They never really bothered him, even when he was the cause, but this time they did. These were guards he knew. Guards who had at one time protected him. This was Snoke, divided in two, all thanks to the help of his sister Rey.It’s not that he felt any regret in killing them. It was deserved. Necessary. He just had a small problem with the finality- there was no going back. He was to leave. Go back home, to his mother, to the Rebellion, to admitting his mistakes-...and he felt fear.---Ben Solo comes home. TLJ fix-it.





	will you love me when i come back home

Bodies.  
Bodies didn’t really bother Kylo- no, it’s Ben now, with the way he feels and what he’s done, he certainly can’t take the name Kylo Ren now. He is Ben Solo. They never really bothered him, even when he was the cause, but this time they did. These were guards he knew. Guards who had at one time protected him. This was Snoke, divided in two, all thanks to the help of his sister Rey.  
It’s not that he felt any regret in killing them. It was deserved. Necessary. He just had a small problem with the finality- there was no going back. He was to leave. Go back home, to his mother, to the Rebellion, to admitting his mistakes-  
...and he felt fear.  
Fear is a common response among people at the unknown, and it felt pretty accurate to say that was happening. He was afraid of this new feeling that had been flooding his mind since Snoke’s death minutes ago- even stronger, even more previously lost than his hatred at his discovery of the Supreme Leader’s manipulation of his entire life. He didn’t know what people would say, if the Resistance would trust his change of heart like his sister has, if his rebellion would create an even bigger danger for his family, for what remained of it, if he would be caught and killed before he could even-  
“Ben!” His sister’s voice is what snaps him out of his endless chain of thoughts, and he feels quite similar to how he did being caught stealing snacks from the cabinet as a child. “Ben, we need to get them to stop firing on the ships, we can save the Rebellion-”  
He’s silent, glancing back at the now empty throne and taking a step closer. “Ben..?” Again, Rey’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts, and he looks over. A few moments of thought, and then…  
“There’s just something I need to take care of.” He moves over closer to Snoke’s throne, leaving something there, before turning to Rey again. “They’ll listen to me, they don’t know I’ve rebelled and killed Snoke yet.” Ben quickly makes his way over to the panel of controls, ignoring the feeling nudging at his mind, the Force deciding to tell him that Rey feared he had changed his mind. He didn’t know why someone would expect so low of him, but then again, his actions for the past few years haven’t quite proven him to be someone worthy of trust. A few moments and a few button pushes later, and an all too familiar voice sounds over the speakers.  
“Yes, Supreme Leader Snoke?” Ben immediately recognises the voice of General Hux, who he had… worked closely with, and lets out a long sigh, preparing himself for frustration.  
“This is Lord Ren. I order that you cease fire on the Resistance escape ships.” Rey takes Ben’s conversation via intercom with Hux as an opportunity to collect their lightsabers- both of which had been dropped during the fight.   
There’s a silence that almost makes Ben smile. Hux has no idea what’s going on. “You want to.. Cease fire? Ren, this is a perfect opportunity to take them out- did Snoke tell you to order this?-”   
“Snoke…” Ben hesitates, glancing back at the upper half of the Supreme Leader’s body on the floor, dead. “...Snoke is not in a position to lead at the moment. I order you to cease fire on the Resistance ships. Now.”  
“You.. you’d better have a reason for this. Fire will cease.” There’s a small beep that indicates the transmission has ended, and the man takes to looking out of the viewing window. A final shot, missing the ship it was aimed at, and all ceases. He finds himself, staring, thinking with the newfound portion of his mind that had cleared after Snoke had been killed. It felt quite like taking a breath after holding your breath for so long you could hardly stand it, Ben decides, as he takes a step closer to the window. He watches. His mother, General Organa, may not be upon one of those ships- she had to have died when the bridge was attacked, but at least it was not as his hand. Perhaps whoever was in charge now would be sympathetic to his plight…-  
“Ben!” Rey smacks his shoulder in the way only a sibling can, and he’s pulled back to reality once more, looking over at her with almost a confused expression. “...Are you okay?”  
“Yes, I’m fine.” Ben straightens his cloak a little, slightly embarrassed to have been caught lost in thought at such a crucial time.  
“Good. We need to get going, we need to find some sort of ship we can escape in, and quickly. It can’t be long before someone decides to come down here and see what’s happening..”  
He thinks for a moment, quickly coming up with an answer. “Snoke has an escape ship, we can take it. It’s unlikely anyone will find it suspicious and fire at us, they’ll think that he’s going down to fight, probably bringing me- it’ll explain why he is unavailable.”  
Rey’s face lights up, and she takes off, Ben quickly moving to run in front of her as he is the one who knows where the escape ship is even located   
He can’t believe he’s missed this.  
Their quick movement through the hallway together draws some attention- after all, it was Lord Ren running with the girl who had been taken captive once before- but Ben gives a group of curious Stormtroopers a glare and they back off.   
Ben locates the escape ship without difficulty, still followed by Rey, and quickly enters the key code to shut the door- the moment it closes and locks, he leans against the doors and lets out a heavy sigh. “Now we just need to make it to wherever those ships are going. I think I can figure out how to pilot this thing, just-”  
The ship shifts under Ben’s feet as it detaches from Snoke’s ship, and he almost stumbles, looking up at Rey who smiles from the controls. “Don’t worry, Ben. I figured it out.”  
...The man rolls his eyes before moving to sit down on one of the ship’s overly plush seats. This was the Supreme Leader’s ship after all, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t have a highly decorated interior, and it certainly showed. Ben wonders if there’s food somewhere in here- there probably is.  
“..Oh, shit, I just realized something.”  
Ben looks up, raising an eyebrow. “What is it?”  
“Uncle Chewie’s expecting us to get back on the Falcon.” Rey strays from the controls for a moment to look out of a window, locating the ship in question in seconds. “..Yep, there he is. Waiting. We have to get back to that ship so that he knows I made it back out alive-” Ben’s almost hurt expression prompts her to continue. “...and that you made it out, too!”  
“You want us to board that piece of garbage…?” He frowns, getting up to look out of the window with Rey and spot the Falcon. “But this ship is a certified safe trip! It would be ridiculous to swap this one for the one that practically has ‘SHOOT THE TRAITORS!’ painted on the side.”  
“Yes, it’s garbage,” Rey corrects, “but it’s your garbage. Just like me and my garbage brother.”  
“But I’m your only brot-- hey!” He doesn’t have much more time to be offended, because by the time he’s processed the meaning of the statement Rey’s already laughing, taking the controls to maneuver Snoke’s ship towards the Falcon. “Don’t call me garbage, I’m coming back to the Resistance with you!”  
“And that makes you my brother again. My garbage brother. Now, get over here to keep the ship in its path while I tell Chewie it’s us transfering- I’d tell you to talk to him, but..” There’s a pause before the man simply nods, taking over the controls from Rey to make sure they continued at the current trajectory. At this speed, it would be mere seconds until they were in range of a ship transfer..  
“Chewie! It’s me.” The Wookie responding on the other end of the line makes the siblings both smile, if slightly. “Yeah, it’s Rey. I brought someone else too, I think you’ll be excited to see. We need you to let us board, and then we’re getting wherever the Resistance ships are going.” Another Wookiee noise, and a small ‘ding’ signaling the end of the transmission.   
Ben looks up at Rey. “The Falcon should do most of the work, we just need to maneuver the ship into an appropriate position to form the walkway--”  
He’s cut off by the ship giving a shake, and the engines going into low power. The siblings quickly look to see what’s going on, then… the door opens, revealing the gateway into the Falcon, and Ben realizes it shows that his only outings on ships for the past few years have been fighter missions. Uncle Chewie’s done the work already- they quickly board.  
The interior of the Falcon gives Benjamin the type of nostalgia he hadn’t felt in a while, but.. He also hadn’t felt like Ben in a long while before today. It seemed to be the theme of today. Running his fingers along one of the walls, he lets out a long sigh, at his own quiet admission of true regret. Han didn’t deserve to die. He missed his father. His parents.  
..But his thoughts are cut short, and his heart grows a little heavier still when he hears a “Chewie!”, followed by a familiar ‘I missed you’ in Wookiee tongue. He looks over, half expecting to greet his uncle again as if nothing had happened, but as Chewbacca releases Rey from a hug and meets Ben’s eyes, his hopes vanish.  
His uncle reaches for his weapon.  
“Wait! Wait, Chewie, it’s me. It’s me! Ben.” The Wookiee responds in a skeptical tone, and Ben pauses, glancing around before he comes up with an idea and drops his cloak from his shoulders. The fabric pools on the floor, completely changing his silhouette and leaving just... Ben, with his arms held out nonthreateningly.  
“It’s me. It’s not Kylo anymore, it’s me. I’m not going to hurt anyone anymore. I swear... I’m coming home.” He almost holds his breath, as Chewbacca approaches him cautiously, looking over the man. “...I’m sorry I killed him.. I am. I miss him too.”  
Then, finally, Ben receives his customary Chewbacca ‘welcome back’ hug. A lot tighter than he had remembered.  
Chewie heads back off to the Falcon’s control room, setting the ship off on a course quite the same as where the Resistance ships were going, leaving the two siblings alone to sit in a booth around a table, rather quietly.  
“...What was it?”  
“What was what?” The man looks up at his sister, obviously a little confused.  
“I’m just asking… what was it that turned you back to the light? Was it me? Something else?”  
“A mix of things.” Ben decides is an appropriate answer, but then continues. “No… more like a chain reaction. We began talking, without the two of us… fighting. And then we find out Snoke did it. That he wanted you. That he wanted to manipulate you in the same way he did me, and…”  
“And?”  
“And before that moment, I hadn’t realized he had been manipulating me.” He looks down at his hands. “When I found out what he had done, it became obvious that he simply used people for their power, not because he truly believed in bettering their potential, and that included me… so I was angry. And I didn’t want him to hurt my sister, even with the history we’ve had. So I killed him.” … Staring down at his hands, he decides to shed another symbol of Kylo Ren. He takes off the leather gloves, dropping them down onto the table like they’re nothing. “And when I killed him, after the fight, I realized all the manipulation was gone. Snoke was gone, so Kylo Ren was gone. All of that… dark stuff, it melted out of my brain like ice into water and that just leaves… Ben. Me. Ben Solo-Organa. And I’m not good, nor am I bad. I’m a Skywalker, and that’s the most important thing.”  
They’re quiet for a few moments, before Rey breaks the silence.  
“Ben?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I love you. You’re the best brother I could ever ask for.” Rey pauses before placing Ben’s lightsaber which she had previously collected onto the table.  
“Debatable.” Ben replies, almost smiling as he takes his lightsaber from the table, and that was all that needed to be said.

* * *

The trip to what had turned out to be a secret Rebel base, unused for many years, had been rather uneventful. Ben (and, honestly, Rey too) was very surprised that no one from the First Order had attempted to shoot at them. Maybe the First Order had spotted someone from Snoke’s ship boarding the Falcon and, presuming that whoever it was is on their side, had decided to ignore the ship as well as the escape ships, still acting under ‘Snoke’s’ orders, or maybe it was something more special. Maybe it was the Force, acting in its mysterious ways.  
Whatever it was, the man is both relieved and nervous to have landed safely in the base. He would have to face people who would surely see him as a threat, people who hated him, who rightfully wanted him dead- but hopefully his sister would defend him. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be blamed for his mother’s death as well.  
But, as Ben exits the ship, preceded by Chewbacca and followed by Rey, he sees that he was greatly mistaken... somehow, General Leia Organa had survived.  
And, with a cautiousness that Ben knows is extremely deserved but still hurts, she approaches Ben Solo- her son, who she had begun to think was lost.   
Once she’s close to him, the other members of the Resistance decide to give the family a little space, backing up a little bit, and the base becomes quiet aside from the sound of the crystal foxes tinkling. Why wouldn’t it, Kylo Ren is here. Except it was very easy to see that something big was different. His cape, his helmet and his gloves, they were all gone, and weariness showed easily on his face. He was tired, in so so many ways. He was Kylo Ren yet he so obviously was not.  
Leia considers this, looking her boy in the eyes before looking over him for a moment, and suddenly-  
She draws her hand back and slaps him, with a force hard enough to make Rey wince just watching. Ben doesn’t react to an almost worrying degree, simply turning his head away from the actual amount of force applied to his face, followed by turning his head back to Leia and raising his hand up to cover the stinging skin.  
“I deserved that.”  
Leia doesn’t respond, simply staring at him for a few moments before she pulls her son into a hug, a tight mother’s hug that she had been waiting to give him for years.. One which Ben returns wholeheartedly, resting his head on his mother’s shoulder. Despite the fact that the hug seems to take entire minutes, everyone continues to be still and quiet around them.   
Finally, she releases him, and continues to go about her inspection of her son- almost as if she was looking for damage. She touches a fingertip lightly to the scar which now runs down the right side of his face, then tilts his chin up to see that it runs down to his chest… she simply sums it up to family fighting, something common among the Skywalkers. She runs her finger over a mole on Ben’s face that had been there since she held him as a newborn in her arms- yes, this was, in fact, her boy… but Leia does find one issue. The woman moves to stroke a lock of her son’s hair, before she finally speaks.  
“Benjamin Chewbacca Solo, what the hell have you done to your hair?”  
-Quickly and defensively, Ben runs a hand through his hair, combing it back with his fingers.. Rey stifles a laugh that makes a noise in the back of her throat.  
“I’ve dyed it, I’ve been dyeing it for years. I like how it looks.”  
“Well, you look ridiculous, that’s what. I don’t like it.” They stare at each other for a few moments before Leia cracks a smile, causing Ben to the same. “Your hair looked fine how it was, Benjamin. Leave it be.”  
“We’ll see what I do.”  
“Still like your father, I see.” It stings, but it isn’t given much time to do so, before Leia looks back at the members of the Rebellion which had survived recent events. “Allies of the Resistance are everywhere, and they will be alerted of our presence and the First Order’s ships watching us. For now, though, we are safe. The blast doors, once they are closed, will protect us from whatever’s outside.”  
“...Then why haven’t we closed the doors, General?” A voice, and a man steps forward, one who Ben recognizes as pilot Poe Dameron. They had met before, a while ago, under very different circumstances… and the two make uneasy eye contact. Solo isn’t quite sure what to think of him now…  
“I knew someone was coming. The Force wouldn’t let the good be denied.” She gives a gentle smile to her children. “...Now, let’s close it up until we get this taken care of.” At her prompting, one of the technicians moves off to take care of the door, causing it to slowly begin to close.  
“-Leia!” Poe calls out, frowning and pushing his eyebrows together. “What is that-?”  
Leia immediately turns to look, and it’s nothing other than a small First Order ship, speeding towards the base. “-Everyone out of the way, prepare for an attack!” Quickly, everyone follows orders- clearing backwards and drawing whatever weapons they had, including blasters and the lightsabers of the two Solo children.  
The ship comes to a stop, managing to slip in at barely enough open space left in the door. Weapons trained on the ship, all prepare for the worst as the hatch opens, and-  
That one rebel Stormtrooper from some time ago and a girl pop out of the ship, hands up. “Don’t shoot!”  
The Resistance is chaos, Ben decides, but of course it would be. It’s the antithesis to a body named The First Order, after all, so there’s nothing else it could be. In fact, the entirety of the concept of being good, of doing the right thing, for fighting what is right is inherently a messy concept. Good is subjective, not the white like someone would expect, but verging into the grey at times.  
But it’s good.  
Quite like being a Skywalker.

 

* * *

 

 

General Hux had heard silence from Snoke ever since Ren had informed him that he was ‘not in a position to lead’, which had grown more and more concerning as they watched the ships reach the planet and disappear, itching to do something. Here was the Resistance, absolutely defenseless and almost begging to be destroyed, and his orders were to not shoot. He assumed Snoke had given the orders, but then something almost disturbing had been noticed from the bridge.  
Snoke’s escape ship. Someone from Snoke’s escape ship boarding a ship that had notably belonged to Han Solo at one point, obviously before Kylo Ren had killed him. Noticing something very strange was going on, Hux called for Captain Phasma to come down with him and see what in the galaxy was going on.  
Now that he sees the dead body of the Supreme Leader in the flesh, not even all in one piece, Hux finds himself glad on so many levels that he hadn’t come down here alone. The damage is great- Supreme Leader dead, the guards dead, and the Resistance possibly already regrouping. Armitage, with no idea how to even react, stares on at the scene.  
Next to him, Phasma removes her helmet to hold it under her arm, wanting to get a good look at whatever had happened down here clearly- without being half blinded by the poor design of Stormtrooper helmets. She gives a whistle. “What do you think happened down here?”  
“The question isn’t what. Somebody killed the Supreme Leader, and then the guards that came for them afterwards.” Hux feels just the smallest bit sick as he takes a few steps closer to the Supreme Leader’s body. Being close to him was never a pleasant experience, and it was much less so when he’s literally cut in half, but then- he notices a detail. A piece of paper, the type made from trees.  
Paper and pen writing was an absolutely ancient thing, the people who still carried on the practice in this day were often the strange type- like those who put their lives in the Force. There was only one person he knew of who would write and leave a note such as this, but surely, it couldn’t be-  
He picks up the note and instantly knows that surely it could be, because he unfolds the paper and it reads:  
“Sorry my sister and I killed everyone!  
:(  
-Ben”  
...Armitage crumples up the piece of paper and drops it to the floor, causing Phasma to take a step closer in curiosity.   
“What did it say? Was it from whoever did this-?”  
“It was Ren and his sister Rey.” Hux lets out a sigh, stepping on the note and grounding it into the floor with the heel of his boot as he looks over at the Captain. “I expected more of him, I really did.”  
“Can you blame him though?” Phasma offers, and Hux can really only shrug in response.  
“...No, the man was pretty awful to him. Worse than he was to me. Quite frankly, if I were Ren, I would have killed Snoke ages ago. Like my father.” Phasma nods in agreement. “Anyways, you do know what this makes him.”  
“A traitor.” She increases her grip on her helmet. “We’re going to have to crush him as well as the rest of the Resistance, end the whole damned Skywalker bloodline. ...As soon as we figure out the Supreme Leader situation. I thought it was going to be Ren to take over after Snoke went the way of the Death Star. But obviously not.”  
“I was planning on taking it myself, but I thought that I would have more time to prepare myself…” Hux frowns down at Snoke’s body. “Well, shall we go up to the bridge, act like we know what in the galaxy is going on, and figure out the whole leadership issue after we squash them like bugs?”  
“Deal.” Phasma takes one last look around the room before putting her helmet back on and walking out of the room like nothing out of the ordinary was going on.  
Hux wasn’t quite as great of an actor.

 


End file.
